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Cloud (SSB20)
Cloud is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 20. Cloud was revealed alongside , and as apart of the "Four Swordsman" release. Cloud is also the second third-party character joining in the game, joining alongside Fireball Studios's . Attributes Cloud is a swordsman with quick mobility overall, even with above average weight. He has average walking speed, the ninth fastest dashing speed, above average air speed, high air acceleration and strong jumps, granting him quick ground mobility and resilient aerial mobility. However, he has above average falling speed and high gravity, making his aerial mobility quite polarized and unrewarding. Cloud's greatest asset is his range. The Buster Sword grants Cloud's attacks the overall second longest reach in the game (surpassed only by ), allowing him to fight from a safe distance and space out his opponents quite easily. Combined with the aforementioned stats, Cloud can approach opponents noncommittally. Due to this range, his ground game is adept at punishing careless attacks. His neutral attack, forward tilt, down tilt, dash attack and forward smash also make Cloud slide a bit forward. His up tilt is also a reliable combo starter until medium percentages, chaining into itself, up smash or up aerial. Furthermore, his aerial moveset benefits even more from these stats, making him a threat in the air. Neutral aerial covers a very large area, similar to Shulk's neutral aerial, making it a go-to spacing move. It additionally has low ending lag, which, when combined with its wide range and low angle, make it great at edgeguarding. Forward aerial is very strong if hit clean, and is also a meteor smash on aerial opponents if sweetspotted. Back aerial, in terms of animation, damage and range, allowing it to edgeguard and space effectively. Up aerial has high power, high speed, long duration and enormous overall range, making it an all-purpose attack and discouraging most opponents from trying to challenge it. Down aerial is not only one of the strongest meteor smashes if sweetspotted, it is also one of the fastest in the game, hitting on frame 10. Its speed, range and duration also make it great for breaking or outright preventing juggling. Finally, up and down aerials autocancel immediately after their hitbox ends, with the former also autocancelling in a short hop, along with neutral aerial and back aerial, though the latter requires frame-perfect timing. His special moveset also has some interesting options. Blade Beam is a projectile with good range and high activity, making it useful for forcing approaches and good at edgeguarding. It also stalls Cloud in the air, giving it additional utility in guard breaking. Cross Slash is very similar to Dancing Blade, requiring additional inputs from the player to initiate the remaining slashes. However, it is less demanding, having wider input windows and cancelling immediately if the first hit misses. Climhazzard as it is a rising slash followed by a descending slash. Unlike them, however, it is a great out of shield option, as it hits on frame 7. Its descending slash is optional, allowing Cloud to mix up his recovery and getaways. Lastly, Limit Charge is only a charging method for a mechanic that is unique to him: the Limit Breaks. Though their appearance, use and naming is not the same across the Final Fantasy games, the concept of Limit Breaks has become a series staple. In Smash Bros., this mechanic is a direct reference to Cloud's game of origin, Final Fantasy VII. It manifests itself as an invisible meter, similar to Little Mac's Power Meter back in SSB4. After it is full, Cloud gets a boost in almost all of his stats, allowing him to move even more quickly across the stage. In addition, all of Cloud's special attacks are given a single-use power boost, with all of them dealing more damage and having high knockback. They are also granted brief intangibility upon startup. Each one is also granted additional properties, with Blade Beam being faster and having transcendent priority, Cross Slash striking five times immediately and having very low ending lag, and Climhazzard granting more vertical distance and much more horizontal momentum, as well as having the ability to edge sweetspot at any time. Limit Charge is also converted to Finishing Touch, a spinning slash with such tremendous knockback that can KO any character at 70% from floor level. It also causes a whirlwind that pushes away opponents, making it harder to punish and providing Cloud a means of gimping recoveries. However, Cloud has some severe flaws. One of those is his grab game. His short grab range, a slow pummel and the overall least useful set of throws make it the most unimpressive among the cast, even more so than that of . His forward and back throws cannot combo or KO before 300%. His up throw has misleading power, being too strong to pressure and too weak to KO before 240%. His down throw loses all combo potential past 30%, due to its power being the highest of Cloud's throws. Another weakness is his largely inconsistent KOing ability. While he has an abundance of strong finishers, none of them are easy to land in the neutral game. Side smash's immense power is counterbalanced by its slow startup and surprisingly low duration, as it is possible to dodge all three hits with a well-timed sidestep. Up smash's wide range is hindered by a combination of low speed and mediocre power. Down smash's semi-spike and stage spike capabilities are not particularly powerful, with the move also having relatively high ending lag and the first hit is techable, causing the second hit to miss. His neutral aerial has low power, while his back and up aerials require good positioning to KO before 130%. His Limit Break specials are also blockable, making it impossible for them to connect if not used at point-blank. While Blade Beam is an exception to that, reflection can be quite detrimental to Cloud. In addition, Cloud has no means of escaping pressure. His neutral attack and down tilt are extremely punishable if shielded, while none of his fast aerial attacks start from the front. As such, Cloud is very susceptible to combos. Blade Beam is also not particularly threatening in neutral due to its low speed and high ending lag, to the point where and can powershield the beam and grab Cloud, even if they start from the other side of the stage. Moveset 'Taunts' *Up: *Side: *Down: 'On-Screen Apperance' * 'Idle Poses' * * 'Victory Poses' * * * In Competitive Play Alternate Costumes Trivia